Sep 25 2023 43 mins
“At what point in our history did our houses become ‘not nature’?”
— Julia Plevin
The earth is our home, our classroom, and our legacy — how can we create a nurturing relationship with the earth that allows all living creatures to thrive?
Sukkot, the ancient Jewish Harvest festival, is an invitation for people of the Jewish faith to experience, celebrate, and revere the gift of our natural world. But in the face of the looming climate change crisis and global food insecurities, what can Sukkot teach us about how to live in harmony with nature — and what spiritual and secular practices can help us ensure our ongoing survival?
This episode of Living Jewishly is the third and final of a series of special episodes exploring the Jewish holidays.
Dr. Elliot Malamet is joined by guests Julia Plevin and Rabbi Rachel Rosenbluth, who have actively engaged nature as a powerful focal point in their personal, professional, and spiritual lives.
This episode dives into our evolving relationship with the natural world, how to incorporate our holiday messages into the rest of our year, and the importance of embracing our identities as beings of nature.
“We’ve disconnected ourselves from nature in our capitalist and extractive culture… we are nature. We are a part of nature.”
— Bluth
This episode discusses:
- How to experience Sukkot as a powerful invitation into a more sustainable, in-tune, and natural way of living
- How to involve nature in your daily spiritual practice — and the healing benefits you can enjoy
- Why now is the time to seriously care about the state of our world — and why it is so urgent
Highlights:
00:52 Introduction
02:23 The sukkah as metaphor
05:01 The sukkah as liminal space
06:21 Technology conquering nature
08:03 The sukkah as a home
09:49 Nature as daily spiritual practice
16:33 The six directions
17:24 Segmentation of holiday messages & shmita
19:47 Importance of identity & reconnection
25:57 Thinking beyond the abstract
26:45 Environmentalism & diaspora
30:58 Turning to, not away
33:50 Nature-integrated spiritual practices
41:09 Judaism as a nature-based religion
Links:
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Shalom!